Tracked vehicle

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a tracked motor vehicle (10) with an engine-equipped vehicle drive module (12) with two parallel track carrier units (14) attached to the sides of the drive module in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle. The drive module (12) is connected to a front part of the respective track carrier units (14) by means of a fastening trunnion (36) on the rear part of the drive module (12) and hollow fastening devices (38) on its front part. Vibration-damping rubber elements are arranged at the fastening trunnions and the fastening devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following invention concerns a tracked motorized vehicle whichcomprises a vehicle body unit and two tracked carrier units arranged bythe sides of the vehicle body unit and parallel to the longitudinaldirection of the vehicle, where the vehicle body unit is formed as anengine-equipped vehicle drive module, which is connected to a front partof the respective tracked carrier units in order to give the vehicle asubstantially U-shaped appearance when seen in plan view, whereby therear parts of the tracked carrier units are cantilevered backwards fromthe vehicle drive module in order to form a completely free spacebetween the rear parts of the tracked carrier units in order to bereleasably connectable to a load module. The present inventionconsequently relates to a tracked motorized vehicle, which makes itpossible to easily and quickly convert a tracked vehicle for anotherapplication, whereby different load modules can be releasably connectedto the tracked vehicle through docking.

In order to permit a simple assembly and an easy dismantlability of themain component parts of such a tracked vehicle, viz. the vehicle drivemodule and the tracked carrier units, and simultaneously avibration-damped attachment of the tracked carrier units in the drivemodule, it is proposed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of thepresent invention that the vehicle drive module has a rigid frame withfastening trunnions extending out from each side of its rear part forthe attachment of the central part of a support beam of the respectivetracked carrier unit and that the frame has, on each side of its frontpart, a hollow fastening device for fastening of a front end part of thebeam of the respective tracked carrier unit, whereby the fasteningtrunnions resp. the fastening devices are connected to the respectivebeams via a rubber-elastic element.

Because each tracked carrier unit has, in a way known per se, aplurality of carrier wheels arranged in parallel rows on each side ofthe beam, it can be appropriate that the inner carrier wheels, which lienearest to the vehicle drive module, lie somewhat in front ofcorresponding outer carrier wheels in the section of the tracked carrierin front of the fastening position for the fastening trunnion in thebeam, while behind the fastening position for the fastening trunnion,the inner carrier wheels lie somewhat behind the corresponding outercarrier wheels. In this way, a gap is formed in the inner row of carrierwheels which is used for the elastic attachment of the fasteningtrunnion of the drive module. The carrier wheels in each tracked carriercan therefore be tightly packed with, consequently, a lower load on therubber bushings of the swinging arms and a lower specific pressureagainst the ground through the drive tracks. By means of the mutualdisplacement in the longitudinal direction of the carrier wheels in theinner and outer rows of carrier wheels, a favourable plough-shape of thecarrier wheels in the two track carriers in front of the fasteningtrunnion and a reversed plough-shape behind the fastening trunnion areachieved.

The rear parts of the track carrier units appropriately have means fortheir connection with the respective side parts of a load module, whilethe rear parts of the drive module have means for the connection with afront part of the load module. The means for the connection of the loadmodule with the drive module and with the track carrier unitsappropriately comprise a vibration damping rubber-elastic element.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is described more closely below with reference to theappended drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a tracked vehicle drive moduleaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the vehicle in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-section, taken along line III--III in FIG. 2through a part of one track carrier unit of the vehicle;

FIG. 4 shows an exploded perspective view of the vehicle according tothe invention, where one track carrier is shown dismantled and removedfrom the vehicle drive module;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a part of the vehicle drive module and a partof one track carrier mounted upon it, with certain parts left out;

FIG. 6 is a side view of a tracked vehicle according to the inventionwith a load module, shown by dashed lines, mounted upon it; and

FIG. 7 shows schematically a drive system for the vehicle according tothe invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In FIGS. 1 and 2 a tracked motor vehicle according to the invention isreferred to generally by 10. The fundamental construction of the vehicle10 comprises an engine-equipped crew and drive module 12 and two trackcarrier units 14 mounted on its sides. As is shown more clearly in FIGS.4 and 5, each track carrier units 14 has an elongated carrier beam 18upon which a number of carrier wheels 20 are arranged in rows on eachside of the beam 18 and rotatably mounted on this by means of respectiveswinging or torque arms 22 which are rotatably mounted in the beam 18 bya, not shown, torsion spring in the shape of a rubber bushing. The beam18 further carries a track drive wheel 24 at its front, indented end 26,and a rotatable track tension wheel 28 at its rear end, together with atleast one track support wheel 30 (FIGS. 1 and 6) on its upper side inorder to support the upper running part of the drive track 32 of thetrack carrier.

The drive module 12 has a lower rigid frame 34 with a fastening trunnion36 projecting outwardly from each side of its rear part, and a hollowfastening device 38 at a front side part of the frame 34. The fasteningtrunnion 36 and the fastening device 38 are intended for attachment of arespective central part and the indented front end part 26 of the beam18 of the track carrier unit 14 by means of rubber-elasticvibration-damping elements 40 resp. 42 (FIG. 5). In the mounted state onthe drive module 12 the track carrier units 14 in this way formcantilevered parts extending backwardly, which together with the drivemodule 12 form an essentially U-shaped vehicle configuration (FIG. 2)when seen in plan view with a completely free space 16 between the rearparts of the track carrier units 14. The object of this will bedescribed below.

As can be seen in FIG. 7, the crew and drive module 12 on its left sidehas furthermore a cabin 44 for a driver and a leader and a space to theright which contains a drive package comprising i.a. an internalcombustion engine 46, a gearbox/power transmission 48 and universaldrive shafts 50 resp. 52 for the track drive wheel 24 in each of thetrack carrier units 14. The drive shafts 50,52 thus extend through thehollow fastening devices 38 to a respective hub reduction gear 54 ineach of the track drive wheels 24.

Referring again to FIG. 5 it is shown that the fastenings of theswinging arms for the inner row of carrier wheels 20 in the beam 18 aredisplaced somewhat in front of the corresponding swinging arms 22 forthe outer row of carrier wheels 20 in the section of the beam 18 whichlies between the front and rear attachment points 38 resp. 36 on thedrive module 12, which is also evident in FIG. 6. The pairs of inner andouter carrier wheels 20 in this section of the two track carrier units14 in this way form a plough configuration, while the carrier wheelpairs behind the fastening trunnions 36 of the drive module 12 have aninverted plough configuration, i.e. the outer carrier wheels 20 liesomewhat in front of the inner ones. In this way, a compact arrangementof the carrier wheels 20 is achieved over the great part of the beam 18,which gives a reduced loading on the rubber bushings of the swingingarms 22 and a lower specific ground pressure through the drive tracks 32with better driving characteristics as a consequence.

The vehicle 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, comprised of the combined crewand drive module 12 and the two track carrier units 14, is intended tobe releasably connected to an additional or load module 56 (see FIG. 6)for the intended use, in order to thereby form a complete vehicle unit,the appearance and function of which can be adapted to differentintended uses by exchanging a load module 56 of one type with another.

The load module 56, which thus can have different designs depending onthe intended use of the vehicle unit, has a rigid body, equipped with afront attachment device (not shown) arranged to be releasably connectedto a pair of rear coupling means 60 on the rear part of the frame 34 ofthe drive module 12. The body of the load module has furthermore rearside fastening devices 62 (FIG. 3) for releasable connection withinwardly directed coupling means 64 on the rear part of the beam 18 inthe respective track carrier unit 14. When the load module is mounted onthe drive module 12 respectively on the track carrier units 14, itcontributes to a large degree to the stiffness and stability of theassembled vehicle unit 58 through an effective use of the inherentstiffness and weight of the load module body.

I claim:
 1. Tracked motor vehicle (10) comprising a vehicle body unit(12) and two track carrier units (14) arranged parallel to the sides ofthe vehicle body unit and in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle,where the vehicle body unit is formed as an engine-equipped vehicledrive module (12) which is connected to a front part of the respectivetrack carrier units (14) in order to give the vehicle, in plan view, anessentially U-shaped appearance, wherein the rear parts of the trackcarrier unit (14) are cantilevered backwards from the vehicle drivemodule (12) for forming of a completely free space (16) between the rearparts of the track carrier units (14) in order to therein be releasablyconnected to a load module (56), characterized in that the vehicle drivemodule (12) has a rigid frame (34) with a fastening trunnion (36)projecting outwardly from each side of its rear part for attachment of acentral part of a support beam (18) of each respective track carrierunit (14), that the frame (34) has on each side of its front part ahollow fastening device (38) arranged for the attachment of a front endpart (26) of the beam (18) of the respective track carrier unit (14),and that the fastening trunnions (36) respectively the fastening devices(38) are connected to the respective beam (18) via a rubber-elasticelement (40, 42).
 2. Tracked motor vehicle according to claim 1, inwhich each track carrier unit (14) has a plurality of carrier wheels(20) arranged in parallel rows on each side of the beam (18) on arespective swinging arm (22), characterized in that in front of thefastening point for the fastening trunnion (36) in the beam (18), theinner carrier wheels (20) lying nearest to the vehicle drive module (12)lie somewhat in front of corresponding outer carrier wheels (20), whilebehind the fastening point for the trunnion (36), the inner carrierwheels (20) lie somewhat behind the corresponding outer carrier wheels(20).
 3. Tracked motor vehicle according to claim 1 characterized inthat the rear parts of the two track carrier units (14) have means (64)for connection of the track carrier units (14) to a load module (56)placed between them.
 4. Tracked motor vehicle according to claim 3,characterized in that the rear part of the vehicle drive module (12) hasmeans (60) for connection of the vehicle drive module (12) to the loadmodule (56).
 5. Tracked motor vehicle according to claim 3,characterized in that the means (64,60) for connection of the trackcarrier units (14) respectively the vehicle drive module (12) to theload module (56) comprise a rubber-elastic element.